The Delhi-based refugee rights organization Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) has welcomed a unanimously adopted resolution by the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) against Bangladesh’s interim government.
The resolution, adopted on 23 October at the 216th IPU Assembly in Geneva, expressed deep concern over alleged human rights violations involving six detained former Members of Parliament. These include threats and intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, inhumane prison conditions, and the lack of due legal process.
RRAG is one of the complainant organizations regarding the arrest and detention of the six former MPs—Saber Chowdhury, Fazle Karim Chowdhury, Habibe Millat, Asaduzzaman Noor, Mosharraf Hossain, and Muhammad Faruk Khan. Currently, more than 100 former MPs from the Awami League are detained in Bangladesh and are facing multiple criminal cases. Among them, MP Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun died in custody on 29 September 2025.
The IPU stated that on two separate occasions, its appointed independent trial observers were unable to visit Bangladesh to monitor court proceedings due to delays in receiving necessary visas. Repeated requests for visa facilitation for an IPU delegation also went unanswered. Despite multiple follow-ups, no response has yet been received regarding visas and cooperation for the planned IPU mission.
Suhas Chakma, Director of RRAG and one of the complainants to the IPU, said that the failure to grant timely visas to IPU observers and delegations indicates that the interim government led by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus is conducting trials of detained former MPs in “kangaroo courts” and attempting to conceal serious human rights violations.
The IPU has expressed particular concern over the continued detention of Fazle Karim Chowdhury, Asaduzzaman Noor, Mosharraf Hossain, and Muhammad Faruk Khan. It highlighted the alarming prison conditions, the irreversible impact on their health, serious violations of their right to a fair trial, and the severity of the charges—some of which could carry the death penalty. The IPU also noted that the cases against former Awami League members may be politically motivated.
[IPU Raises Concerns Over ‘Kangaroo Courts’ Under Interim Government; RRAG Expresses Support]
The IPU reiterated its intention to send a trial observer and a delegation to Bangladesh as soon as possible to monitor court proceedings. The delegation aims to meet with legislative, executive, and judicial authorities, as well as prison officials and other relevant stakeholders.
Suhas Chakma further stated that the IPU resolution calls on the international community to take effective action. He added that those who blindly support the interim government’s claims of upholding the rule of law and democracy should reconsider, alleging that Dr. Yunus has shown no respect for the rule of law, has turned the judiciary into “kangaroo courts,” and is creating a situation that could even call into question his Nobel Prize.
